


Thurmond Take Two

by Yukito



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Darkest Minds Series - Alexandra Bracken
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-22 08:01:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19663156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yukito/pseuds/Yukito
Summary: Ruby wakes up in Thurmond, but something is different





	Thurmond Take Two

**Author's Note:**

> This is a crossover fic

After eight years, your body got into a rhythm of things. This was especially true when you were in a place like Thurmond where any sort of delay – like trying to sleep in – would cost you a beating, and that was if you were lucky. Ruby opened her eyes to the top of Sam’s bunk. She could already tell it summer was out in full force. It was only somewhere around six in the morning and the humidity was high. Today was going to suck.

When they built the camp, they hadn’t built it with changing weather in mind. Only a few choice areas, like the control room, had heat and air conditioning, which meant that on cold days, the cabins and buildings were cold and on hot, it was really hot.

Ruby swung her feet over the edge of her bunk and found her shoes.

“Going to be a hot one.”

Ruby was surprised to hear Sam talk to her. Ever since she had erased Sam’s memories of her by accident, Sam tended to stick to the other girls in the cabin. Maybe it was the fact she was the first one to stir.

“Yeah.” Ruby pulled on her top. “And we have the garden in the afternoon today.”

The first year she had been in Thurmond, there are been such a hot day that Ruby had thought the camp would have suspended activities. They did not and instead had kids passing out left and right. The next year, they just rotated the kids more often, but many of them still ended up with sun burns and heat stroke. If you were lucky, you might be stationed near one of the few trees, but those were often reserved for the few kids who had found favour with the PSFs in ways that Ruby wasn’t willing to do.

Breakfast was the same slop as usual. She waited in line for her oatmeal – surely America was going to run out of Oatmeal at some point. She first noticed that it was a set of Blues behind the counter serving the food. This wasn’t new – this was one of the few times except for passing by on their way to switch shifts that they saw the Blues and the Yellows – but something else was drastically different. Ruby realized as she inched closer to the front that these were boys. She felt stupid for staring, but she hadn’t seen a boy in years. They kept their heads down and she knew they wouldn’t be able to speak, but she wondered why they were even there.

She still hadn’t figured it out when she reached the front of the line. She held out the bowl for what they passed as oatmeal and the boy serving the watered-down slop looked up at the same time. Their eyes met and Ruby felt her heart do a flipflop. The boy had beautiful green eyes. She blinked and he filled her bowl. She felt the need to say _thank you_ , but thankfully she remembered herself. Ruby gave the slightest of nods and as she turned, she thought maybe she saw a smile. 

Everyone ate in silence like usual and Ruby spent the entire time thinking about what had happened. It was probably just because she hadn’t seen a boy her age before – at least that was her reasoning. Or maybe it was because he had given her a smile, though the smile had happened _after_ her chest felt like it was going to leap out of her body. She filed it away as a freak incident as she forced the tasteless food down her throat and got ready for factory duty.

Factory duty was boring, but uneventful. Lunch was too. And then they had to face the garden. It was hot. If she had to guess, it was close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It had only been five minutes with her pulling weeds and she had beads of sweat running down her face. The PSF in charge was one of the meaner ones and she had already heard him refuse two girls’ requests for water. She told herself she’d have to pace herself, but it turned out not to matter. An hour in and Ruby collapsed. 

Ruby woke up in the infirmary and panicked like she always did. She was, as usual, handcuffed to the bed. She strained against the cuff even now after so long – she did not like being chained up.

“Relax.”

Ruby paused and then realized someone was in the bed next to her. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was. “You’re –“

“A boy? Yeah.” The boy with the beautiful green eyes sat there grinning at her like he was on some inside joke that no one else was.

“How?”

“Boys infirmary is filled up.” He gestured with his free hand to his busted lip. “Big fight.”

Ruby realized that while she had been whispering her words, he had not. Did he not realize how dangerous talking to each other was? Talking was one thing, but then talking to another colour was worse and then talking to a _boy_ was even worse than that. 

“You’re going to get us in trouble.” Her whisper ironically came put loudly. 

The boy grinned at that which confused Ruby entirely and yet, her chest did that flip-flop thing again. “I’m Percy.”

She blinked. Something tugged at her, but she didn’t know what. When she didn’t respond quickly, she was pretty sure there was a shadow that crossed over his features, but then it was gone again. 

“I’m Ruby.”

“I know.” He said, though didn’t choose to follow up which left Ruby even more confused. “Listen, there’s going to be a white noise drill tomorrow afternoon. It’ll be a bad one. You’ll end up in the infirmary again and some lady named Cate will tell you to meet her in the boiler room to escape. When you get out, ask to pee on the side of the road after mile maker 116, okay?”

“What?” 

Ruby was so confused, but the footsteps made any further inquiry impossible. Soon the PSF showed up and took Ruby back to the cabin and she was left wondering what this Percy boy was talking about. 

At night, as the girls took turns telling a story like they always did at night, Ruby wasn’t paying attention. She mind dwelled on the cute boy. She knew she could trust him, but she didn’t know why. She thought about his words, too, but mostly she kept wondering why he seemed so familiar. She dwelled on these thoughts until she fell asleep.

~*~

It happened like he said it would. The white noise hit her as she was heading to kitchen duty. Everyone dropped down to their knees, but Ruby’s nose and ears started to bleed. This was worst than any of the white noises she heard before. Quickly she passed out.

Cate had come, too, like the boy had said. However, something went wrong after. When the alarms sounded, there were so many PSFs that she couldn’t make it to the boiler room. She tried three different ways and on the third, froze as she saw a shadow heading her way. She was about to be caught when an arm reached out and grabbed her. It pulled her into a small supply room.

“Shhh.” Percy had his hand over his mouth and they waited until the footsteps passed and receeded. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” She stared at him wide-eyed. “No. I don’t know. I can’t get to the boiler room and they know I’m an Orange.”

Percy swore and ran a thoughtful hand through his hair.

“Do I know you?” Ruby blurted out. They were both in a lot of danger where they were, but somehow that question seemed important to ask. The question seemed to hit Percy hard and despite the chaos outside and the blaring alarm, he actually smiled.

“Yeah, baby, you do.”

Ruby felt her chest do another flipflop at the word ‘baby’. Why did that sound so familiar. “I don’t understand?”

Percy let out a soft ‘fuck it’ and then reached out, framing her face with his hands, and kissed her. The kiss seemed to explode for Ruby as warmth encompassed her entire being. Suddenly something swelled inside her – memories. Percy kept kissing her, deepening it and she remembered. She remembered Preya and Terra. Everything. When he pulled back, she looked at him with a renewed look. 

“Percy?” She felt her eyes begin to water.

“Yeah, baby. It’s me.”

“How – why?”

“It’s okay.” He drew her in for a hug. “I’ve come to get you out of here.”

Ruby suddenly remembered how she found herself here. This should have been her past, but while on Terra she had run into Clancy and Clancy had used a spell to send her back and erase her memories. 

“How are you here, though?” 

“No time.” He shook his head. “Let’s get out of here first, okay?”

He took her hand and followed him back out into the corridor. It seemed as if meeting Cate was now off the table. They hurried down one, then had to double back and down a different one. It seemed that whatever progress they were making was slow and Ruby worried the longer they were in the camp, the harder it would be to get out.

They made their way outside. It was raining, but they couldn’t stop. They weaved around some of the buildings until they heard a “Stop right there!” and the familiar sound of a rifle cocking. Percy turned around and immediately turned his attention on the water tower. With some effort, he managed to puncture a hole on the side and water gushed out, washing the man away. 

“Come on.” He took Ruby’s hand again. They ran across the garden and then into the garden shed. Both of them were wet and panting, but they knew they couldn’t linger. Percy looked up at Ruby and the expression that hardened on his face gave Ruby trepidation.

A sudden realization washed over Ruby. She shook her head. “No.”

“There’s no other way, Ruby.”

“But I just got you back.” She was crying, though her face was already so wet from the rain it probably was hard to tell. “Please, we can make it.”

“You know they place better than me. You know you’re wrong.”

“Then… then I’ll change everyone’s mind.”

“Too many and not enough time. You need a distraction to get out and I’m the ultimate distraction.”

Ruby reached out to hug him. “I won’t. I can’t. I love you too much. Please, Percy.”

Percy closed his eyes and frowned, though he hugged her back. “I love you too.” He withdrew enough to look at her. “Which is why you need to listen to me. You can start over here. You know about Clancy. You know about Rob. You can save Jude and Cole and be happy with Liam.”  
Ruby shook her head again, the tears still flowing. “I want to be happy with you.”

“I know.” He seemed to be pushing back all emotions except determination. “And maybe I’ll run into you again, but right now I need to know my girl is safe and happy.” Ruby sobbed and Percy touched her face. “Please, baby. I need you to do this for me.”

Ruby wanted to shake her head, but there was sounds of shouting from the garden.

“Ruby, _please_.”

Ruby finally acquiesced with a nod. She felt numb inside, but she agreed. The agreement seemed to be a relief to Percy who nodded. “Good. Okay. When we go out there, you run for East end of the fence. There’s a part where the electricity’s been cut off. “

Ruby nodded again, numbly, and then suddenly without really being prepared, kissed her one last time and pulled her back out into the rain. The last thing Ruby remembered as she ran was Percy shouting and the sound of a barrage of bullets.


End file.
